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enWhy Liverpool could find unexpected support during their visit to BulgariaCSKA Sofia coach Stoycho Mladenov, who scored twice against Liverpool in 1982 and got a Russian telly as a reward, has promised to cheer on the Reds during their game with Ludogorets, writes Metodi Shumanov...Metodi Shumanovhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/why-liverpool-could-find-unexpected-support-during-their-visit-bulgaria
On Wednesday, Liverpool will travel to Bulgaria for the fifth time in their history. Brendan Rodgers’ team face Bulgarian champion Ludogorets in a crucial game in Sofia; both sides share third place in their Champions League group with three points each.
Victory would mean the winners keeping alive their hopes of escaping the group alive, while the losing side will almost certainly bid farewell to European football for this season.
Apart from the 2000 fans from England who are expected to visit Sofia for the game, Liverpool could receive additional support in the Vassil Levski National Stadium from fans of local side CSKA Sofia. And this won’t be the first time this season when supporters of CSKA join forces with a Ludogorets rival from abroad.
Back in August, the Bulgarian champions played Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League play-offs. During the second game in Sofia, the Romanian side was cheered on not only by its own fans, but also by tens of CSKA ultras. The explanation is simple – during the communism era both Steaua and CSKA were associated with the local army and have maintained a fraternal relationship ever since.
After the game with the Romanian champions, Ludogorets owner Kiril Domuschiev called those CSKA supporters “poor souls”. The irony is that Domuschiev, whose personal wealth is estimated at €500 million, was part of CSKA’s executive board until 2010. After leaving the club he decided to redirect his football investments towards Ludogorets, which is based in the town of Razgrad – 330km north-east of the Bulgarian capital. Thanks to his efforts, Ludogorets were promoted to the top flight and won three successive titles.
Red action
But on Wednesday, Liverpool will certainly have one pretty famous fan on Bulgarian soil - CSKA coach Stoycho Mladenov, who has already declared his love for the men from Anfield. “Next to CSKA my favourite club is Liverpool, so I hope they win their game with Ludogorets,” he said, before being immediately accused of unpatriotic behaviour by disgruntled Ludogorets officials.
Mladenov himself is no stranger to international tussles with Liverpool. Back in 1982 he scored both goals for CSKA in one of the most famous European wins a Bulgarian club has ever achieved. CSKA faced the Reds, then-holders of the European Cup, in the quarter-finals.
After a 1-0 defeat in England, the Reds of Sofia claimed a 2-0 win after extra-time. It remains Liverpool’s only loss in four visits to Bulgaria. The prize Mladenov got for his two goals was a promotion to the rank of captain in the Bulgarian army, as well as a small Russian TV set.
It was these unforgettable games between CSKA and Liverpool in the eighties (they also met in the quarter-finals in 1981 when Liverpool won both games 5-1 and 1-0 respectively) that are the main reason for many fans in Bulgaria supporting the latter nowadays.
In order to emulate Liverpool’s legendary ‘This is Anfield’ sign, CSKA officials even decided to display a similar slogan at their own club stadium which reads: ‘This is the Army Stadium’.
Secret scousers
As for the CSKA fans, Wednesday’s game won’t be the first time they’ve supported Liverpool in a football match with an opponent from Bulgaria either. In 2004, the English side travelled to Sofia for the second game with CSKA’s fierce rivals Levski in the UEFA Cup third round.
The game was played on March 3 and coincided with Bulgaria’s national holiday. Half an hour before kick-off, the stands of the Vassil Levski National Stadium were completely full despite the fact that Liverpool won 2-0 in the first clash at Anfield.
Right before the first whistle was blown a fight erupted in the north stand, which CSKA fans usually occupy during the so-called Eternal derbies with Levski. Although the stadium was supposed to be full only with Levski supporters, it turned out that some CSKA ultras went inside under cover.
They kept their scarves and banners hidden until they decided to reveal themselves with a couple of minutes to go. The police reacted quickly and managed to keep the enemies apart; CSKA fans were sent to the stand where a few hundred Liverpool supporters watched the game.
Eventually Gerard Houllier's team defeated their hosts 4-2 with goals from Steven Gerrard (the only surviving member of that squad who could play on Wednesday), Michael Owen, Dietmar Hamann and Sami Hyypiä.
Lovers' tiff
A year later Liverpool won their fifth European title, but a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League obliged UEFA to send the Reds through the qualifying rounds of the Champions League the season after. The draw for the third round paired CSKA Sofia with Liverpool, with the first game in Sofia.
And because in the world of football, love is often accompanied by hatred and vice versa, it should be noted that not all fans of CSKA support Liverpool by default. The undisputable proof of that was the bad attitude of some supporters towards Djibril Cisse during the 2005 game in Sofia.
It was won 3-1 by Liverpool, with Cisse scoring the first goal and Fernando Morientes getting the other two. It was later revealed later that the egocentric French striker had provoked the locals with an obscene gesture which was recorded by one of the cameras at the stadium. UEFA fined CSKA €25,000 for the racist chanting of some supporters.
Of course, the hopes are that no such incidents will occur during Wednesday's game. Nonetheless, neither one of these sides can afford to be nice when it comes to their Champions League futures.
Ludogorets vs Liverpool LIVE ANALYSIS with Stats Zone
featureWed, 26 Nov 2014 11:30:00 +0000Joe Brewin294115 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comUEFA Europa League Wrap: Rosenborg fight backRosenborg staged an impressive recovery to beat Sligo Rovers 3-1 and advance to the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/uefa-europa-league-review-rosenborg-complete-comeback-see-sligo
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Norway, the formerUEFA Champions League quarter-finalists fell further behind to Danny North's 13th-minute opener.
That left the visitors needing three unanswered goals to progress, the first of which arrived just three minutes later through Pal Helland andasecond-half brace from Mike Jensen saw the Norwegian outfit advance to a tie with Karabukspor in the nextround.
Elfsborg's 1-0 win at Inter Baku forced a penalty shoot-out, won 4-3 by the Swedish outfit, while Georgian side Chikuraalso prevailed on spot-kicks after a goalless draw with Bursaspor.
Krasnodar's 5-0 thumping of Sillamae Kalev completed a 9-0 aggregate rout, andShakhtyor's 5-1 win over Derry City also saw them through in comfortable fashion.
Trencin almost threw away a 4-0 first-leg advantage against Vojvodina, losing 3-0 in Serbia to squeeze through to a clash with Hull City, but there were no such problems forBrommapojkarna, who drew 1-1 with Crusaders to progress 5-1 and set up a meeting with Torino.
Goalless draws were good enough for the likes ofDinamo Minsk, Omonia Nicosia, Ruch Chorzow andSplit to make it through, while CSKA Sofia's stalemate with Zimbru saw them crash out on away goals after a 1-1 draw in Bulgaria in the first leg.
It was a mixed night for Scottish clubs, as St Johnstone and Aberdeen progressed but Motherwellcrashed out to Stjarnan.
St Johnstone needed penalties to see off Luzernafter a 1-1 draw at McDiarmid Park, while Aberdeen will now face Real Sociedadfollowing a 2-1 success away at Groningen.
Motherwell could not complete a hat-trick of wins, however, losing out 3-2 after extra-timein Iceland asStjarnan advanced 5-4 on aggregate.
Hajduk Split survived a late fightback to see off Dundalk 3-2 on aggregate, while Gothenburg progressed despite a 1-0 loss on the night to Gyori thanks to their three-goal advantage from the first leg.
MladaBoleslav booked a third-round tie with Lyon courtesy of a devastating 4-0 win at SirokiBrijegand PSV await St Polten, who won 2-0 to beat Botev Plovdiv 3-2 overall.
There were comfortable passages for ShakhterKaragandy, Molde, Zorya, Grodig, Slovan Liberec and Astana but Neftci, Sarajevo and AIK allhad to overturn first-leg deficitsagainst Koper, Haugesund and Linfield respectively.
Lech Poznan were another to come from behind and qualify, triumphing 3-0 at home to Nomme Kalju after a 1-0 first-leg reverse, and Spartak Trnava's 3-0 win saw them ease past Zestafoni.
AsterasTripolis overcame RoPS courtesy of a 4-2 home win, while PetrolulPloiesti's 3-1 success saw them secure a 5-1 aggregate scoreline against FlamurtariVlore.
Elsewhere, Esbjerg, Cluj, Diosgyor, Vikingur, Zulte-Waregem, Metalurg Skopje, Rijekaand FHalso progressed to the next stage.
news_articleThu, 24 Jul 2014 22:00:25 +0000218230 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comUEFA Europa League: Sligo, Baku out to finish upsetsSligo Rovers and Inter Baku will look to convert first-leg shocks to progression from the UEFA Europa league second qualifying round.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/uefa-europa-league-preview-sligo-inter-baku-out-finish-shocks
Sligo pulled off the resultof the round last week,beating former UEFA Champions League quarter-finalistsRosenborg 2-1 atLerkendal Stadion - a result that cost Rosenborg boss Per Joar Hansen his job.
Alan Keane and Danny North put the Irish side two away goals to the good, though goalkeeper Gary Rogers' late own-goal means they will have to focus at The Showgrounds, something manager John Coleman isaware of.
"It's only half a job and I've hammered that home to the players," he said after the game.
"We're disappointed that we conceded a goal and disappointed that we didn't take a couple of chances after that, but they're a good side and we're certainly not going to be underestimating them."
Completing a theme of Irish success were Linfield, who travel to Sweden after a 1-0 win over AIK.
Inter, meanwhile,emerged 1-0 victors against Svenska Cupen holders Elfsborg last week and will have confidence in progressing, havinglost just one of their last 16 games at home -keeping clean sheets in four of their last six.
Those drawn with the bigger names to come in the third round will be hoping for a glamour tie.
Brommapojkarna looknailed on to meet Serie A club Torino as they hold a 4-0 lead over Crusaders, while Trencin can also think about a clash with English FA Cup finalists Hull City after beating Vojvodina by the same scoreline last week.
Botev Plovdiv and Mlada Boleslav will be hoping to seal meetings with PSV and Lyon after 2-1 first-leg wins over Siroki Brijeg and St Polten respectively.
Real Sociedad await the winner between Aberdeen and Groningen, with Mainz eyeing RoPs and Asteras Tripolis' clash in Greece - both gamespoised after draws.
Astana,Zorya, Dinamo Minsk, IFK Gothenburg, Krasnodar, Molde and Grodig are others who can look ahead after dominant first-leg victories - all hold at least a three-goal advantage.
CSKA Sofia and Motherwell will hope conceding away goals in first-leg draws does not costthem against supposedly beatable opposition in the shape of Zimbru and Stjarnan.
Other highly rankedoutfits Cluj, Tromso and Bursaspor were unable to break down weaker opposition and willlook to assert their dominance overJagodina, Vikingur and Chikura after 0-0 draws.
Esbjerg and Slovan Liberec both reached the knockout rounds of last year's competition. The Danes drew 1-1 with Kairat in Kazakhstan last week, but Slovan return home after beating Kosice 1-0 away.
Omonia Nicosia, Petrolul Ploiesti, Diosgyor and Hajduk Split hold two-goal leads heading into their second legs, but things are tighter for Ruch Chorzow, Zulte-Waregem and Split who are all aheadbut conceded away goals to Vaduz, Zawisza Bydgoszcz and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
Koper, Shakhtyor and Haugesund will look to back-up narrow away wins, while Nomme Kajlu andRijeka head to Lech Poznan and Ferenvaros protecting 1-0 leads.
Atlantas host Shakhter Karagandy, Zestafoni welcome Spartak Trnava and Metalurg Skopje go to Zeljeznicar after goalless first legs, but St Johnstone and FH will hope an away goal can swing things in their favour after 1-1 first-legs at Luzern and Neman Grodno.
news_articleMon, 21 Jul 2014 12:44:10 +0000216074 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comHull to meet Trencin or Vojvodina in EuropeHull City will make their continental debut against Trencin of Slovakia or Vojvodina of Serbia in the UEFA Europa League.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/hull-meet-trencin-or-vojvodina-european-debut
Steve Bruce's side qualified for Europe's second-tier club competition by virtue of reaching the final of theFA Cup last term and will enter at the third qualifying round.
Trencin hold a 4-0 first-leg advantage over Vojvodina ahead of Thursday's trip to Serbiaand will likely host Hull for the first leg on July 31.
Elsewhere in the draw, last season's Europa League quarter-finalists Lyon will take on MladaBoleslav or Siroki Brijeg.
Hubert Fournier's sidefinished fifth in Ligue 1 last term and saw their European campaign ended by Serie A championsJuventus.
The French side beat Viktoria Plzen on their way to the last eight, with the Czech side drawn against either Romanianoutfit Petrolul Ploiesti or Flamurtari of Albania.
Former European championsPSV get their Europa League adventureup and running againstBotev Plovdiv or StPolten while Spanish club RealSociedad await the winners of Groningen versusAberdeen.
Draw in full:
Kardemir Karabukspor v Rosenborg orSligo Rovers
Trencin orVojvodina v Hull City AFC
Sarajevo orHaugesund v Atromitos
Ruch Chorzow orVaduz v Kairat Almaty orEsbjerg
Chornomorets Odesa v RNK Split orHapoel Beer Sheva
Buducnost Podgorica orOmonia v Metalurg Skopje orFK Zeljeznicar
Real Sociedad v Aberdeen orGroningen
Dinamo Moscow v Hapoel Kiryat Shmona
Luzern orSt Johnstone v Zestafoni orSpartak Trnava
Torino v Brommapojkarna orCrusaders
Astana orHapoel Tel-Aviv v Linfield orAIK Solna
Young Boys v Ermis Aradippou
Mainz v RoPS Rovaniemi orAsteras Tripolis
PSV v Botev Plovdiv orSt Polten
Zulte Waregem orZawisza Bydgoszcz v Derry City orShakhtyor Soligorsk
Elfsborg orInter Bakiv Neman Grodno orFH
Litex Lovech orDiosgyori VTK v JK Sillamae Kalev orKrasnodar
Motherwell orStjarnan v JK Nomme Kalju orKKS Lech Poznan
FK Cukaricki orSV Grodig v CSKA Sofia orZimbru Chisinau
Petrolul Ploiesti orFlamurtari v Viktoria Plzen
Mlada Boleslav orSiroki Brijeg v Lyon
Laci orFC Zorya Luhansk v Molde orND Gorica
Astra v MFK Kosice orSlovan Liberec
Vikingur orTromso v Rijeka orFerencvarosi
Dinamo Minsk orMyllykosken Pallo-47 v Cluj orJagodina
Neftci PFK orKoper v Bursaspor orChikhura Sachkhere
Gyori ETO orIFK Gothenburg v Rio Ave
Club Brugge v Brondby
Atlantas orShakhter Karagandy v Dundalk orHajduk Split
news_articleFri, 18 Jul 2014 12:02:27 +0000214428 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comUEFA Europa League Wrap: Sligo shock RosenborgRosenborgs hopes of qualification took a blow after a shock 2-1 home defeat to Sligo Rovers in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/uefa-europa-league-review-sligo-shock-rosenborg-krasnodar-cruise
The 22-time champions of Norway had home advantage in the second-round qualifying tie at the Lerkendal Stadion.
However, they will travel to Ireland needing to overturn the one-goal deficit, as second-half goals from Alan Keane and Danny North put the visitors in control.
Mikkel Diskerud offered hope of a late comeback when he struck nine minutes from time, but it proved in vain as Sligo held on for a precious win.
Koper were also 2-1 victors on their visit to Neftci, while the likes of Botev Plovdiv, Mlada Boleslav, Split and Zulte Waregem still have to work to do after winning by the same scoreline at home.
IFK Gothenburg have won Europe's secondary club competition on two occasions in 1982 and 1987, and the Swedish outfit look destined for the next round after a 3-0 win at Gyori ETO.
Lasse Vibe got the visitors off to a flying start in the eighth minute and Jakob Johansson and May Mahlangu added furth goals in the second half.
Fellow Swedish sides Brommapojkarna and Elfsborg had differing fortunes. The former routed Crusaders 4-0, while the latter were beaten 1-0 at home by Inter Baku.
Russian Premier League outfit Krasnodar are virtually assured a spot in the third round of qualifying thanks for a 4-0 win at Sillamae Kalev.
Ari, Yury Gazinskiy, Wanderson and Vladimir Bystrov were all on the scoresheet in the comfortable win.
Grodig too won 4-0 on their travels at Cukaricki,and Trencin secured the same score at home to Vojvodina. Molde put one foot in the next round thanks to a 4-1 home success over Gorica.
Kazakh outfit Astana should progress after a 3-0 home win over Hapoel Tel Aviv, while Belarus side Dinamo Minsk beat MYPA by the same score. Zorya won3-0 on their visit to Laci.
The matches between Kairat and Esbjerg, RoPS and Asteras Tripolis, CSKA Sofia and Zimbru, Luzern and St. Johnstone and Neman Grodno and FH are all nicely poised after finishing 1-1.
Shakhter Karagandy, Spartak Trnava and Tromso played out stalemates on their visits to Atlantas, Zestafoni and Vikingur, while Jagodina took a valuable 0-0 draw away from CFR Cluj.
There were no goals in the matches involving Bursaspor and Chikhura Sheva, Aberdeen and Groningen, orMetalurg Skopje andZeljeznicar.
Omonia Nicosia and Diosgyor take 2-0 leads back to their respective home legs with Buducnost and Lovech. Petrolul Ploiesti scored twice in the last 13 minutes to win 2-0 at home to Flamurtari Vlore.
Dundalk face a tricky task after losing 2-0 at home to Hajduk Split, while Motherwell surrendered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at home to Stjarnan.
One goal was all that was needed for Slovan Liberec to win on their visit at Kosice, while Nomme Kalju were 1-0 victors at home to Lech Poznan. Ruch Chorzow also have a one-goal cushion ahead of the second leg following an entertaining 3-2 triumph over Vaduz.
Linfield and Rijeka triumphed 1-0 in their home ties, as did Shakhtyor and Haugesund on their visits to Derry City and Sarajevo.
news_articleThu, 17 Jul 2014 21:29:57 +0000214099 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comUEFA Europa League: Gothenburg face GyoriFormer European heavyweights IFK Gothenburg continue their quest to reach this seasons UEFA Europa League group stage at Gyori on Thursday.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/uefa-europa-league-preview-gothenburg-continue-group-stage-quest
The Swedish side lifted European football's second-tiertrophy back in 1982 and again in 1987 under its former guise oftheUEFA Cup, but their ambitions for this year's tournament are likely to bemuch smaller as they approach the first leg of theirsecond-qualifying-roundclash in Hungary.
Mikael Stahre's men were third in the Allsvenskan last season, but currently sit a disappointing sixth after 14 games this term andwill likely need to improve after only defeating Luxembourg'sFola Esch 2-0 on aggregate in the previous round.
Gothenburg will not be the only Swedish team aimingto try andseal a place in the third qualifying round, with Elfsborg, AIK and Brommapojkarna taking on Inter Baku, Linfield and Crusaders respectively.
Rosenborg were surprisingly eliminated at the same stage last season, losing out to Scottish sideSt Johnstone, and they will hope to avoid a repeat against Ireland's Sligo Rovers.
Swiss side Luzern are the opponents on this occasion for St Johnstone, who are one of three Scottish teams competing in the Europa League.
Motherwell meet Icelandic side Stjarnan, while Aberdeen face a tricky test against Eredivisie play-off winners Groningen in what shouldbe one of the standoutties of the round.
Norwegian's Tromso were the big winners of the first qualifying round, hammering Tartu Santos of Estonia 13-1, and they will be looking for more of the sameagainst Faroese outfit Vikingur.
Tippeligaen leaders Moldemeet Gorica of Slovenia, while Norwegian compatriots Haugesund will need to overcome Sarajevo.
Zulte-Waregem and Shakhter Karagandy take on Zawisza Bydgoszcz and Atlantas respectively as they both aim to feature in the group stage for a second straight year.
Lech Poznan, last-32participants in 2011, will be favourites against Estonia's Nomme Kalju, and their Polish compatriots Ruch Chorzow should be hopeful of progress against Vaduz ofLiechtenstein.
Romanian's Cluj make their return to European football after a year-long absence against Jagodina, while Petrolul Ploiesti face Flamurtari Vlore as they bid to go better than last season's run to the final play-off round.
Zimbru will require a fine performance in order to knock-out CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria, and Chikhura are also likely to be up against it in their tie with Bursaspor.
Kazakhstani sides Astana and Kairat meet Hapoel Tel Aviv and Esbjerg, the latter of whomreached the last 32 in 2013-14.
Finnish teams RoPS and MYPA are pitted against Asteras Tripolis and Dinamo Misnk, whose fellow Belarusians Neman Grodno and Shakhtyor will need to overcome FH and Derry City.
Kosice face Slovan Liberec, Laci meet Zorya and Neftci take on Koper, while the games between Omonia Nicosia and Buducnost, Vojvodina and Trencin, Zestafoni and Spartak Trnava and St Polten and Botev Plovidiv should all be hotly contested.
Meanwhile, Sillamae Kalev host Krasnodar, Rijeka welcome Ferencvaros, Hajduk Split travel to Dundalk and the Croatian side'scity rivals RNK Split meet Hapoel Be'er Sheva of Israel.
Elsewhere, there are clashes betweenSiroki BrijegandMladaBoleslav, Diosgyor andLitex Lovech, Metalurg Skopjeand Zeljeznicar, whileCukaricki hostGrodig.
news_articleTue, 15 Jul 2014 09:12:40 +0000212490 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comCSKA Sofia confirm return of winger PetrovCSKA Sofia have confirmed the return of winger Martin Petrov on a deal that keeps him at the club for the remainder of the season.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/petrov-returns-cska-sofia
Bulgarian Petrov, who has been capped 90 times for his country, spent two years at the club between 1996 and 1998 - a spell in which he picked up league and cup winners' medals.
After leaving CSKA for Swiss side Servette, Petrov went on to play for Wolfsburg, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and Espanyol before finding himself without a club earlier this year.
The 34-year-old had been training and playing with an amateur side in Manchester, but has now put pen to paper on a short-term deal at the Stadion Balgarska Armija.
"(I am) very grateful to the leadership of CSKA and to coach Stoycho Mladenov," Petrov said.
"He is the man who (has been) constantly calling me in recent months.
CSKA sit fourth in the A PFG, eight points off leaders Litex Lovech.
news_articleWed, 30 Oct 2013 17:23:27 +000078886 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com